"'Ne di tempo, ne di Signoria,
Non ti dar malinconia.'

"'Fret not thyself for time long past away,
For weather, nor for what the great may say.'

"Well, it happened one morning in Florence that a _gentil donna_, who, I
take it, was more _donna_ than truly _gentil_, whatever her rank may have
been, meeting at the door of the Duomo a very ordinary and rough figure
of her acquaintance, who had only made himself look more vulgar by new
and gaudy clothes, asked him as he came out:

"'Is the Cads' Mass {180} over already?'

"To which he, in nowise put out, promptly replied:

"'Yes, Madonna, and that of the Demireps is just going to begin; {181}
only hurry, and you'll be there in time with the rest of 'em!'

"And that lifted him to celebrity, for in those famous days a small joke
often made a great reputation. Ah! Signore--a great many of us have
been born into this world four hundred years too late--more's the pity!
However, the lady learned the truth of the old proverb, '_Guardati del
villan_, _quando ha la camicia bianca_'--'Look out for a vulgar fellow
when he has a clean shirt on,' for then he thinks himself fine enough to
say anything saucy.

"And there is yet another story of the same sort, Signore; indeed, I
think that while the world lasts there will always be a few of them left
for steady customers, under the counter, like smuggled goods in Venice;
and it is this: It befell once that a Florentine fell in love with a
lady, who was like her mother, _come il ramo al tronco s'assomiglia_--'as
the bough to the tree, or very much worse than she ought to be;' for the
dear mamma was like the Porta San Niccolo, only not so well famed.

"However, the gentleman wedded her, never heeding the proverb:

"'Let every wooer be afraid
To wed a maiden not a maid;
For sooner or later, as 'tis said,
She'll turn again unto her trade.'

"However, in this case the proverb got the lie, for the lady after she
was married behaved with great propriety, and yet was often reminded that
she had better have repented before she sinned than after; for many would
not speak to her, for all her wealth, till she was well convinced that
_Che profitta ravedersi dopo il fatto_?

"'When the deed has once been done,
What is the use of repenting, my son?'

"So it befell one morning that the poor soul was praying in the Cathedral
or Duomo, as many another poor sinner had done before her (doubtless on
the